Don't Rhyme For The Sake of Riddlin': The Authorised Story Of Public Enemy - Tapa dura

It would take a nation of millions to hold this book back! * * Dizzee Rascal * * An invaluable, educational insight into the DNA of Hip-Hop. A neccesary read. -- DJ Semtex * * BBC 1Xtra * * One of the seminal hip-hop groups. * * New York Times * * Public Enemy made hip-hop that was more than entertaiinment. They inspired a lot of people who believed that you can effect change through music. * * Adam Yauch, Beastie Boys * *

Public Enemy are one of the greatest hip-hop acts of all time. Exploding out of Long Island, New York in the early 1980s, their firebrand lyrical assault, the Bomb Squad's innovative production techniques, and their unmistakeable live performances gave them a formidable reputation. They terrified the establishment, and have continued to blaze a trail over a twenty year period up until the present day. Russell Myrie has had unprecedented access to the group, conducting extensive interviews with Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Terminator X, Professor Griff, the Shocklee brothers, and many others who form part of their legacy. He tells the stories behind the making of seminal albums such as their debut Yo! Bum Rush the Show, the breakthrough It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back, and multi-million selling Fear of a Black Planet. He tackles Professor Griff's alleged anti-semitic remarks which caused massive controversy in the late eighties, the complexities of the group's relationship with the Nation of Islam, their huge crossover appeal with the alternative audience in the early nineties, and the strange circumstances of Flavor Flav's re-emergence as a Reality TV Star since the turn of the millennium. Russell Myrie shows how, in a time of rampant profligacy and meaningless posturing in hip-hop, their diatribes still cut to the heart of the American dream, and they are as important and necessary as ever.